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US unemployment rate hit a six-year low in September US unemployment rate hit a six-year low in September
(35 minutes later)
The US economy added 248,000 jobs in September, official figures show. The US unemployment rate dipped to 5.9% in September, a six-year low, official figures have shown.
The unemployment rate dipped to 5.9%, a six-year low, from 6.1% in August, according to monthly figures from the US Labor Department. The rate fell from 6.1% in August and is the lowest recorded since July 2008.
At the start of this year the unemployment rate was at 6.6%. US Labor Department also said that employers added 248,000 jobs last month, and the job growth figures for August and July were revised upwards.
The jobs figures are seen as a significant gauge of the health of the US economy and could raise expectations of an earlier rise in US interest rates. The jobs figures are seen as a significant gauge of the health of the economy and there has been much debate over when US interest rates will rise.
The US Federal Reserve has kept interest rates close to zero since the financial crisis in 2008.
"The most important item is in this report is the drop in the unemployment rate below 6%. (Fed Chair Janet) Yellen has said there is only so much slack if the unemployment rate falls below 6%," said Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York.
The Labor Department said 69,000 more jobs were created in July and August than had previously estimated. It also said nearly 100,000 jobseekers stopped looking for work.
"This (jobless) number will continue to support the notion that the economy is growing," said Paul Nolte at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago, "and it isn't so strong that the Fed will raise rates anytime soon".